In the dead of night, the wind howled, rattling the windows. It was the perfect time to burrow under the covers and quietly savor what little warmth remained.
But Ali, having finished his work at the "Violet" hospital, tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Confusion about his future path, the sense of alienation and distance he felt toward the noblewomen who came and went in carriages, alchemical automobiles, and airships, doubts about whether effort would ever yield proper reward, and the sheer uncertainty of life—all of it churned his thoughts, making it impossible to settle his mind.
"Ugh." Ali let out a heavy sigh, sat up in bed, threw on his jacket, and walked over to the only table in his cramped room. He picked up the jar and poured himself a cup of thin, watery ale, gulping it down. This low-quality ale was the only "luxury" in his life.
Holding his cup, Ali walked to the window and sat directly on the floor, watching the nearly bare trees outside sway in the wind as if shivering ceaselessly. A vague sense of desolation settled over him.
Outside his window was a quiet, deserted street. Quite some time passed between the occasional carriage or alchemical automobile that trundled by, and the sounds they made only served to emphasize the silence and emptiness around him. Across the street stood rows of relatively old buildings. Since this was the worst-located commoner district, there were no gardens or anything of the sort.
But Ali knew perfectly well that the owners of the surrounding houses had not been living worse than most citizens of Lontard these past few years—if anything, they had it easier. Their keen eyes had noticed that, as Lontard underwent earth-shattering changes, more and more outsiders were flooding in. The newly established alchemical workshops, perpetually short-handed, kept recruiting workers from all over. So the locals had renovated their homes and rented them out to these newcomers at relatively affordable prices. With so many rooms available, they earned quite a tidy sum.
—After the magic-drenched alchemical workshops had sprouted one after another and achieved enviable results, the Textile Guild had grown anxious. They began hiring mages skilled in golems and magical constructs to improve the existing textile equipment. After two or three years of experimentation, the efficiency of textile machinery saw a stunning breakthrough. The scale of the textile industry began to expand accordingly, and the demand for labor grew steadily. At the same time, this brought the price of textiles down, and the people of the Holm Kingdom could finally afford to buy extra clothing.
Ali took a sip of ale, pushed the window open, and felt the biting cold wind rush against his face. He couldn't help but shiver, but the gloom in his heart eased slightly.
High in the sky hung the silver moon, cold and beautiful. As he sipped his ale, Ali suddenly noticed the large dog beside him also staring fixedly outside—toward the gate out of Lontard—its eyes clearly carrying a trace of urgency and longing. He smiled and said, "Do you feel lost about the future too? Not sure which direction to aim for?"
He was only talking to himself, not seriously expecting the dog to understand.
The big dog gave him a cool sidelong glance, didn't even bark, and continued gazing longingly toward the exit of Lontard, thinking: Once my injuries heal, I'm getting out of this dangerous city immediately!
Ali turned his head and, imitating the dog, looked toward the Lontard city gate—toward those city walls draped in silver-white moonlight—and sighed softly. "Lontard's walls may be tall and imposing, but they're nothing compared to the invisible wall between nobles and commoners. It makes you dare not move forward. Cold, heartless, towering, unbreakable... impassable..."
He didn't bother trying to organize his thoughts into proper sentences, letting his emotions pour out freely. After all, his only audience was a dog.
"Are commoners really unable to step into the world of the nobles? Why is it that we all have eyes and noses, souls and brains—we can all think—yet they are naturally noble, looking down on us? Does the manner of one's birth truly decide one's entire life?" Ali poured out his thoughts on nobles and commoners. Caught between silent acceptance of this innate reality of being ruled and questioning the very nature of nobility, he could only choose a direction. And clearly, he refused to remain beneath others forever.
The big dog let out a low whimper and finally turned its head to glance at Ali. How naive!
Noble status comes from the power they wield—just like the many powerful ones among the werewolf clans. That is an objective fact that doesn't change because someone questions it. To change it, you have to gain greater power yourself. And once you've done that, the nobles will welcome you into their circle, making you not want to change the system at all.
"You agree with me too?" Ali perked up a little upon seeing the dog finally react. He continued rambling: "The truth is, I understand perfectly well that breaking through this invisible wall requires achieving accomplishments significant enough to earn respect. But Lontard has too many industries, too many opportunities—it makes me afraid to commit, afraid I'll miss the real chance. And those gorgeous carriages, alchemical automobiles, and airships I saw outside Mears Academy—they only made me feel the distance, a distance so vast it can't be crossed..."
He exhaled all the emotions that had been building up inside him, and his mood improved considerably. Gradually, he grew uplifted, the vibrant energy of a young man barely twenty returning to him.
"Now that I've said all that, I've made my decision. Right now, aside from being literate, I don't know much. Perhaps I could work and study at the hospital or an alchemical workshop, but that kind of learning would be on a shaky foundation, and it wouldn't help me figure out what I'm actually good at or what I really want. So—I'm going to save up and attend the General Studies School." Ali stood up, his expression almost solemn as he addressed the silver moon.
"I know the road is hard and the distance is far, and the wall is terribly tall. But that doesn't mean there's no chance. Lord Evans came from the poorest of commoners—he could barely feed or clothe himself—yet through his own effort and perseverance, he rose step by step to become a musician, a master of music, a mage, and a Great Archanist! I, at least, have the Empress gold coins my father and mother left me. In a few more months, I'll have saved enough for the General Studies School. My situation is far better than Lord Evans's ever was!" Ali clenched his fist to encourage himself.
Lucian's story was so legendary that Bards had already embellished and reworked it into all sorts of tales, earning unanimous praise from both nobles and commoners alike. It had become one of the most inspiring sagas around.
"Maybe I don't have Lord Evans's talent—I can't become a master of music or Arcane Magic. But if I study hard and learn properly, I can definitely succeed in whatever field I'm suited for!" Ali knew from his pen pal Jane's letters that the current era was hungry for talent. Even literate people were still scarce, and those with broad knowledge were rarer still. No matter how well you studied, as long as you grasped even a little, you'd have no trouble finding work befitting your station.
And if you studied well enough, you might even become a mage, a knight, or some other profession that allowed you to interact with nobles as equals.
In an era like this, knowledge would never be worthless. So even though studying took time, once you got through that phase, you'd walk a steadier, more solid path—and go further and higher than everyone else!
Having made up his mind, Ali found the silver moon all the more beautiful and dreamlike. In high spirits, he grinned at the big dog beside him: "If I were a Bard or the protagonist of a stage play, maybe I'd awaken my Archanist and arcane magic talents at the General Studies School, meet all sorts of friends, and ultimately defeat the demons and devils conspiring to destroy the world—becoming a legendary mage who changes the course of the era! Heh, and when that happens, you'd become a famous dog in the history books too—the very first companion of a great figure!"